Tutoring Primary Kids

[sodapop]

Does anyone have any experience about tutoring primary kids? I'm in year 12 next year, and a family friend wants me to teach her son, who is in year 5 next year, once per week. I'd love to do it as a part time job, but I'm unsure about:

- how much I should charge? Is $10 per hour too low/high, seeing as I'm only in high school?
- What do you think are essential foundational skills for primary school kids?
- Do you think tutoring others in year 12 is a bad idea, in terms of it affecting my studies?
- Any tips to make classes engaging/fun?

[LOLs99]

I do and it's quite funny.
1. Not seeing you as in high school, is seeing him as so young and maybe $15 if one to one as time is precious during yr12.
2.lol, it will be very easy to teach them. The most critical part is ask them to THINK.
3.Not really, but it will be pretty challenge if you can't cope your time well,but will defs improve self confidence and your knowledge.
4.What kind of classes?I know making much can make classes/students feel more interactive and more in a friendly environment but don't forget to teach them the real stuff rather than just trying to make them laugh for the whole session.

[WhoTookMyUsername]

why do i keep reading this as "touching primary kids" ?

[LOLs99]

why do i keep reading this as "touching primary kids" ?

Lol, haha you mean tutoring primary kid=touching primary kid..

[Planck's constant]

a family friend wants me to teach her son, who is in year 5 next year

Let me get this straight.
There is this woman who's got a kid who's just finished grade 4!
and she is looking for a tutor !
and you call that woman a FRIEND ?


.

[WhoTookMyUsername]

Does anyone have any experience about tutoring primary kids? I'm in year 12 next year, and a family friend wants me to teach her son, who is in year 5 next year, once per week. I'd love to do it as a part time job, but I'm unsure about:

- how much I should charge? Is $10 per hour too low/high, seeing as I'm only in high school?
- What do you think are essential foundational skills for primary school kids?
- Do you think tutoring others in year 12 is a bad idea, in terms of it affecting my studies?
- Any tips to make classes engaging/fun?

if you consider a part time job at maccas is ~ $10 - 15, but you get something very nice to put on resume, $15 is not an unfair price to ask.

[s...]

Is the kid going for scholarishp exams?? wow!

Thing is, do YOU want to tutor the kid?

also, do you think that doing long division for at leasr 30 mins will help you in the level of maths you're at now?(if you're doing maths at all?)

s.

[sodapop]

I do and it's quite funny.
1. Not seeing you as in high school, is seeing him as so young and maybe $15 if one to one as time is precious during yr12.
2.lol, it will be very easy to teach them. The most critical part is ask them to THINK.
3.Not really, but it will be pretty challenge if you can't cope your time well,but will defs improve self confidence and your knowledge.
4.What kind of classes?I know making much can make classes/students feel more interactive and more in a friendly environment but don't forget to teach them the real stuff rather than just trying to make them laugh for the whole session.

Thanks for your advice - I think maybe $15 is okay as well...I'll ask.
Hmm, true, I think it'd be difficult to communicate to them in a way that is both sufficiently complicated, yet remains at their level of understanding.
Yeah, the way I reason it is that it would be pretty much equivalent to a part-time job - y'know, the same hours, and I get to do something that is challenging, and at the same time, rewarding.

why do i keep reading this as "touching primary kids" ?

LOL...dirty mind? Jks.

$15.
Literacy, comprehension, numeracy and arithmetic.
Yes, it would be a bad ideaz.
Bring Mike Tyson in <--

Thanks for your advice, I'm definitely going to incorporate those. But could you expand - why would it be a bad idea?

Let me get this straight.
There is this woman who's got a kid who's just finished grade 4!
and she is looking for a tutor !
and you call that woman a FRIEND ?

Well, yeah, I generally take "family friend" to mean a friend of the family (in this case, my parents' friend).

if you consider a part time job at maccas is ~ $10 - 15, but you get something very nice to put on resume, $15 is not an unfair price to ask.

yep, don't charge him at a rate he wants, charge him at a rate where it becomes worthwhile for YOU

Thanks for your advice. I don't think he has any idea about what price he'd want, but I do think $15 per hour is fair for private tuition. I started off saying that it'd be $10, but since then, I've been preparing booklets of worksheets on basic English, Maths and GenAbility...and it's been taking me hours.  Haha, I'm starting to appreciate how much time our teachers put into teaching us.
But I do think I'll enjoy it...and you're right, it'd be great for my resume. XD

[LOLs99]

Thanks for your advice - I think maybe $15 is okay as well...I'll ask.
Hmm, true, I think it'd be difficult to communicate to them in a way that is both sufficiently complicated, yet remains at their level of understanding.
Yeah, the way I reason it is that it would be pretty much equivalent to a part-time job - y'know, the same hours, and I get to do something that is challenging, and at the same time, rewarding.

Yeah and no problem. make sure you don't forget about your exams and sacs. Lol, is tutoring primary kid challenging?It will be challenging to teach and focus them on a topic. Be sure not to put pressure on a little kid haha:)

[taiga]

I'd strongly recommend multiple students per class for young kids, or they will often lose interest.

[Russ]

Depends on the kid, depends on the tutoring session length. I've been teaching primary kids for several years now and the more of them there are, the more they'll ignore you and get distracted because they still lack the focus that we have.

If you're going to be preparing booklets and putting effort in, tbh, I wouldn't be doing it for only $15

Anyway, you really need to work out what she expects to get out of this. Is she preparing the kid for a scholarship exam and wants to extend him? Is he behind a little in class and she wants to make sure that he's up to standard as the end of primary school comes around? Depending on what she wants, there are different things you'll need to do and they can be quite tough.

I would also recommend that before your sessions you revise long division (2, 3, 4 digit), fraction multiplication/division etc. because whilst you might do them in your head, you have to explain them stepwise to the kid - can you do that right now? I couldn't when I first started

[sodapop]

I'd strongly recommend multiple students per class for young kids, or they will often lose interest.

Yep, I was thinking of tutoring two at the same time, and then playing learning games at 30 minute or 1 hour intervals so that the game, and the competition, holds their interest.

Depends on the kid, depends on the tutoring session length. I've been teaching primary kids for several years now and the more of them there are, the more they'll ignore you and get distracted because they still lack the focus that we have.

If you're going to be preparing booklets and putting effort in, tbh, I wouldn't be doing it for only $15

How many kids do you teach at a time session? Do you think that they'd get distracted if there were 2-3?

Also, I'm not sure how much I should be charging if it's in a group...if I said $15 per hour for one-on-one...should it be $15 each for a group sesh? I'll feel as if I'm overcharging, especially since they're family friends.

But then again, you're right, making the booklets do take ages, so if I take those hours into account, it wouldn't be ridiculous to charge more right? Luckily it's still the holidays so I might be able to make a couple more before school starts. Do you recommend that I buy some Excel Basic Skills books (or some other of the sort) to use when teaching them?

Anyway, you really need to work out what she expects to get out of this.

I would also recommend that before your sessions you revise long division (2, 3, 4 digit), fraction multiplication/division etc. because whilst you might do them in your head, you have to explain them stepwise to the kid - can you do that right now? I couldn't when I first started

Great advice, thanks so much Russ! You're a legend. I'll definitely prepare for all my sessions.
(Although he's not going for scholarship tests this year, I think his mother wants him to the year after. She said she's willing to pay for bi-weekly tuition in the future, and although I've got experience of the whole process, and I know that I will try my best to guide and teach him, I can't promise that I'll be able to help him get in, because doing well in those tests depends largely on natural ability...which I'm uncertain he has. How should I tell her that I can't make any guarantees? Do you have any experience of teaching kids for scholarship exams?

[Russ]

How many kids do you teach at a time session? Do you think that they'd get distracted if there were 2-3?

We have probably 40 at a time average, with 4 staff dedicated to taking care of them and a couple others if numbers go up. So I work in a classroom dynamic rather than a tutoring one, but yeah the more kids the easier it is to be distracted by stuff the other one is doing. On the money - if you're willing to work for less because they're friends, great. If not, full price. Or see if your parents will chip in so you can seem nice

But then again, you're right, making the booklets do take ages, so if I take those hours into account, it wouldn't be ridiculous to charge more right? Luckily it's still the holidays so I might be able to make a couple more before school starts. Do you recommend that I buy some Excel Basic Skills books (or some other of the sort) to use when teaching them?

If I have to produce materials then yeah, I charge for it. And yes, grab a couple of the basic books, it's worth it.

How should I tell her that I can't make any guarantees? Do you have any experience of teaching kids for scholarship exams?

"I can help him but I can't guarantee that he'll get in or anything"

And no, but just extend them above their year level?